It is essential that educators have a good demeanor.
This isn't always the case for a large number of reasons.
As I think about this, I am thinking about what affects my demeanor positively and what affects my demeanor negatively during a school day.
On the positive side, a good demeanor is supported by reasonable expectations, timely/worthy supports, and open, honest communication. When the expectations are too big, supports unhelpful or untimely, and communication missing or inauthentic, that challenges one's demeanor. Fortunately it is often the case that I am well supported in the teaching/learning environment where I work.
A good demeanor is also supported by educators' ability to care for themselves. Good rest, healthy eating, exercise, and other personal supports sets the stage for a good demeanor. Of course if a teacher has to work two jobs to make ends meet or work around the clock to get the teaching work done, that's going to take a toll on that educator's demeanor. This is why unions work hard to make sure that work conditions support healthy living and healthy working.
A good demeanor is supported by reasonable self-expectations and positive daily/weekly habits. If you keep on the work that needs to be done and set reasonable expectations for yourself, that will support a good demeanor.
And, contact time is another essential consideration for good demeanor. Sometimes in schools the contact time is overwhelming. Looking for ways to make that reasonable with good routines for communication and collaboration can help in this regard. Reasonable contact time also leads to a good demeanor.
Our demeanor matters at school, and it's important to consider the factors that affect your demeanor and work to promote an environment that gives you an advantage in this regard.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Patterns and Products of Positive Performance
As I thought about our school this morning, I recognized that we have many patterns of positive performance in place. This matters.
Some of those patterns include the following:
Curriculum Mapping and Program Design Yearly Meeting(s)
Our grade level team reviews the year's curriculum program and maps special events and weekly teaching routines during a day in the summer. This sets the stage for a successful year ahead.
Scheduling
A school-wide schedule is created during the summer and shared before the school year starts to make sure that weekly routines include adequate time for all teaching/learning priorities.
Student Service Meetings
The greater grade-level team including classroom teachers, special educators, guidance, therapists, assistants, and others meet to discuss student services once a week. This meeting helps us to make sure that we are meeting the social emotional and academic needs of all students.
Professional Learning Community (PLC) Meetings
Grade-level educators meet once a week to discuss matters mainly related to the academic program once a week.
Weekly Crowd-Share Memo
The school's principal sends out a weekly memo that lists important dates, events, initiatives, and expectations. Educators are welcome to add related information, important dates, and feedback on the memo. This helps to keep everyone in the building on the same page with regard to teaching well.
Weekly Family, Student, Colleague Newsletter and TeamWebsite
The grade-level website and weekly memo ensures that all members of the learning/teaching team have access to and are up to date with regard to important dates, information, and opportunities related to the grade level teaching/learning standards, program, and expectations.
Team Communication Document
Our team keeps a communication document with important dates, questions, and needed efforts. We use that list to forward our teamwork in order to continually roll-out and develop the teaching/learning program. We meet about once a week as classroom teachers to review the document and complete the efforts listed.
Extra Help Sessions
These drop-in sessions provide time for me to help individual students. I wonder if times like these should become a regular part of the school day since teachers like me who usually teach large groups of students profit from having time to teach small groups and individuals from time to time in a quiet, open time.
These patterns and products ensure a positive program.
There are other patterns and products that continue to evolve, patterns and products that are essential to our positive performance and patterns and products that can still profit from new research and think as we move our efforts forward.
Faculty Meeting
What was once an intimate gathering of staff to discuss school-wide issues has morphed into more of a professional learning event. One reason for the change has been the increase of staff numbers. We have a lot more staff now than in the days of past. Today our numbers of teaching assistants, interventionists, coaches, and therapists have increased. This increase is due to a response to research and in many ways have resulted in better performance. For example the addition of reading interventionists has resulted in greater success with reading for all students--this has been a wonderful, positive change. Faculty meeting is a short amount of time with a lot of people. I think it's important to have time for an entire staff to get together, but I'm not sure about the best ways to move a faculty meeting ahead in ways that matter. Some reading I've done point to the following points that may help:
Some of those patterns include the following:
Curriculum Mapping and Program Design Yearly Meeting(s)
Our grade level team reviews the year's curriculum program and maps special events and weekly teaching routines during a day in the summer. This sets the stage for a successful year ahead.
Scheduling
A school-wide schedule is created during the summer and shared before the school year starts to make sure that weekly routines include adequate time for all teaching/learning priorities.
Student Service Meetings
The greater grade-level team including classroom teachers, special educators, guidance, therapists, assistants, and others meet to discuss student services once a week. This meeting helps us to make sure that we are meeting the social emotional and academic needs of all students.
Professional Learning Community (PLC) Meetings
Grade-level educators meet once a week to discuss matters mainly related to the academic program once a week.
Weekly Crowd-Share Memo
The school's principal sends out a weekly memo that lists important dates, events, initiatives, and expectations. Educators are welcome to add related information, important dates, and feedback on the memo. This helps to keep everyone in the building on the same page with regard to teaching well.
Weekly Family, Student, Colleague Newsletter and TeamWebsite
The grade-level website and weekly memo ensures that all members of the learning/teaching team have access to and are up to date with regard to important dates, information, and opportunities related to the grade level teaching/learning standards, program, and expectations.
Team Communication Document
Our team keeps a communication document with important dates, questions, and needed efforts. We use that list to forward our teamwork in order to continually roll-out and develop the teaching/learning program. We meet about once a week as classroom teachers to review the document and complete the efforts listed.
Extra Help Sessions
These drop-in sessions provide time for me to help individual students. I wonder if times like these should become a regular part of the school day since teachers like me who usually teach large groups of students profit from having time to teach small groups and individuals from time to time in a quiet, open time.
These patterns and products ensure a positive program.
There are other patterns and products that continue to evolve, patterns and products that are essential to our positive performance and patterns and products that can still profit from new research and think as we move our efforts forward.
Faculty Meeting
What was once an intimate gathering of staff to discuss school-wide issues has morphed into more of a professional learning event. One reason for the change has been the increase of staff numbers. We have a lot more staff now than in the days of past. Today our numbers of teaching assistants, interventionists, coaches, and therapists have increased. This increase is due to a response to research and in many ways have resulted in better performance. For example the addition of reading interventionists has resulted in greater success with reading for all students--this has been a wonderful, positive change. Faculty meeting is a short amount of time with a lot of people. I think it's important to have time for an entire staff to get together, but I'm not sure about the best ways to move a faculty meeting ahead in ways that matter. Some reading I've done point to the following points that may help:
- If it can be shared electronically, do that rather than make it a focus of a faculty meeting.
- Determine what the objective of a faculty meeting is? Is it for professional learning or is it a time to develop a greater sense of team amongst staff or is it a bit of both?
Professional Learning/Professional Development
There is time set aside for this, and I'm wondering what models work best in this regard. For me, I like choice to determine the type of professional learning I need and I like support in obtaining that professional learning. For example, our last professional learning event gave us the choice about how we wanted to spend time related to the science curriculum. That gave me needed time to organize the countless science materials in ways that have already helped me to teach the science better. I think professional learning time should be aimed at teacher's choice about what they need to learn to teach better. I also believe that our early-year conversations with team members and administrators about our learning/teaching goals is an integral part of this overall effort. I believe that every educator's professional learning should both meet their individual teaching/learning needs as well identified system-wide mission, goals, and efforts.
Attendance at Professional Learning Events
I believe that these efforts are integral to moving teaching/learning systems ahead. When educators have the opportunity to attend worthy professional learning events for a day or days, they bring back good ideas that evolve their own teaching as well as the learning in the entire organization. I think that the way that money is spent on these events as well as the expectations for sharing what you learn are important considerations in this regard. I also think it's important to analyze who has the opportunity to go to these events, and how that attendance affects our overall system-wide development.
Purchasing
I continue to believe that we can organize this area of school life more to make sure that we are ordering quality materials that matter in cost-effective, thoughtful, student-centered ways. Sometimes due to timing and process, purchasing is too rushed.
Purchasing
I continue to believe that we can organize this area of school life more to make sure that we are ordering quality materials that matter in cost-effective, thoughtful, student-centered ways. Sometimes due to timing and process, purchasing is too rushed.
I am fortunate to work in a successful teaching/learning community. I enjoy the analysis involved in looking at my role as well as systemwide efforts to teach children well. I will consider the analysis above as I move forward in the days ahead.
Day-to-Day versus Big-Picture Think and Action
We're moving lesson by lesson through the curriculum. We have the materials we need and we've planned a number of special events to compliment the traditional learning events, events that include hands-on explorations, paper-pencil practice, explicit lessons, investigations, reading, research, and more. There's a fair amount of day-to-day set-up, review, and leadership required for this daily work.
Then there's the big picture, the direction we are moving the program forward in ways that matter. What will we do? How will we improve the teaching/learning program in the months and years to come?
I like to consider both the day-to-day and the big picture regularly as I navigate the teaching/learning path. I find that this is a productive way to follow my dad's sage advice, a little for today and a little for tomorrow.
The big picture involves the following:
Math
I continue to look for ways to include more performance assessments and project/problem-based learning in the math program. The challenge continues to be that we have so many details to teach that it leaves little time for the greater, less detailed explorations. I've found some time for this and have planned one upcoming exploration that I believe will be a positive, profitable challenge for students. I hope to include more of these in the days to come and will continue to think about how I might revise the math program to include this worthy learning.
Science
We're on our way with these explorations. The challenge here is finding more time to teach the science well. Hopefully we'll be able to work with this issue with greater effect by revising our teaching routine next year.
SEL
I believe that the best way to embed good SEL into the curriculum is to embed this learning mainly in the subject area study and work as well as hosting regular class meetings. This will involve finding ways to embed SEL into daily teaching in ways that matter. We do this now, but can do it more in time.
Positive Relationships
Every year I find that the students who do best are the students who I have the best relationships with. Making the time to build positive student-teacher relationships is imperative when it comes to good teaching. I can continue to work at this on my own and with the team. Beginning the year with great learning events including field studies has been a positive way to jump start those good relationships. Creating a warm learning environment and positive schedule also supports those relationships. Extra help sessions help too. Additionally positive relationships with colleagues, administrators, family members, and community members is essentially integral to teaching well.
New Programming, Materials, and Ideas
Fortunately we have ways to foster new programming, materials, and ideas via grants and research. This is a good time to identify those new ideas in order to write grants to obtain needed experts, materials, and time to forward new learning.
Program Assessment
Taking a deep look at the program helps to move us forward too. Essential questions such as are the students happy, do they perform well with regard to expected standards/learning, and are they demonstrating positive social-emotional learning too provide a good starting point for program assessment. What other questions and methods might help us to assess the program better?
I will be thinking about the topics above as I read Timeless Learning during the vacation. I know that the wisdom in that book will help to lead me forward with regard to the big picture think I want to embark on over the winter break.
Then there's the big picture, the direction we are moving the program forward in ways that matter. What will we do? How will we improve the teaching/learning program in the months and years to come?
I like to consider both the day-to-day and the big picture regularly as I navigate the teaching/learning path. I find that this is a productive way to follow my dad's sage advice, a little for today and a little for tomorrow.
The big picture involves the following:
Math
I continue to look for ways to include more performance assessments and project/problem-based learning in the math program. The challenge continues to be that we have so many details to teach that it leaves little time for the greater, less detailed explorations. I've found some time for this and have planned one upcoming exploration that I believe will be a positive, profitable challenge for students. I hope to include more of these in the days to come and will continue to think about how I might revise the math program to include this worthy learning.
Science
We're on our way with these explorations. The challenge here is finding more time to teach the science well. Hopefully we'll be able to work with this issue with greater effect by revising our teaching routine next year.
SEL
I believe that the best way to embed good SEL into the curriculum is to embed this learning mainly in the subject area study and work as well as hosting regular class meetings. This will involve finding ways to embed SEL into daily teaching in ways that matter. We do this now, but can do it more in time.
Positive Relationships
Every year I find that the students who do best are the students who I have the best relationships with. Making the time to build positive student-teacher relationships is imperative when it comes to good teaching. I can continue to work at this on my own and with the team. Beginning the year with great learning events including field studies has been a positive way to jump start those good relationships. Creating a warm learning environment and positive schedule also supports those relationships. Extra help sessions help too. Additionally positive relationships with colleagues, administrators, family members, and community members is essentially integral to teaching well.
New Programming, Materials, and Ideas
Fortunately we have ways to foster new programming, materials, and ideas via grants and research. This is a good time to identify those new ideas in order to write grants to obtain needed experts, materials, and time to forward new learning.
Program Assessment
Taking a deep look at the program helps to move us forward too. Essential questions such as are the students happy, do they perform well with regard to expected standards/learning, and are they demonstrating positive social-emotional learning too provide a good starting point for program assessment. What other questions and methods might help us to assess the program better?
I will be thinking about the topics above as I read Timeless Learning during the vacation. I know that the wisdom in that book will help to lead me forward with regard to the big picture think I want to embark on over the winter break.
Day by Day: Teaching List
Today many students will take the unit test while others continue to study since they'll take the test tomorrow. We'll continue our new routine of morning reading and make up for lost recess time yesterday. It's the staff holiday party too. A good day to come.
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Analysis Helps
A challenging day led to analysis which led to positive change including moving furniture, a new way to introduce the lesson, and more sleep. As educators we will have tough days, and the best way to deal with those tough days is to figure out what made them tough and then make the needed revision. Onward.
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